The sands of time march on

 

We need to start this post by sending a very special happy birthday to our niece Daphne of the NorCalAllens.

It is hard to believe that a year has past since we met Dephne in Oakland on March 22, 2006, but the sands of time have spoken and they say, "Happy Birthday #1 Daphne."

This past month we ventured out quite a bit. We visited the Getty Villa in Malibu with Grandpa Pete and Abueloca Daisy.

Miles was a champ on his first trip to a museum, allowing us to eat an entire meal without a single disturbance and then making it around most of the museum before breaking down.

Here is Miles being offered to a deity with winged feet. A special prize this month for the first person to name this deity.

After Miles had his fill of antiquities at the Getty, he enjoyed the comfort of a mid-afternoon snack and a big hug from mom.

Our next day trip took place during Peter's paternity leave. After considering trips to such far off places as Hawaii and London for a few days, we decided instead to venture to the ever exotic south side of Santa Monica.

With no plans for the day, we simply strolled around town and enjoyed the beautiful weather. For lunch, we stopped at a restaurant called The Library Ale House. Miles was mesmerized.

On the way home, we decided to take to the sand.

Miles was happy to sport his new beach hat, and Peter's hand provided scale to show off his little hands.

We also posed in front of our Santa Monica Pier.

Peter was apparently amused by a bashful Miles hiding behind his blanket.

Jill smiled for the camera while Miles entertained himself by studying his finger. Have you spent time looking at your finger lately? It's really quite incredible.

As the perfect ending to a perfect day, another beautiful SoCal sunset.

On yet another day trip, Jill, her sister Leslie, and their parents traveled to Palm Springs to visit Jill's grandparents while Peter was in the Bay Area for a client meeting.

Here are the men, Great-Grandpa Al, Grandpa Pete, and Baby Miles.

The ladies joined the second picture. Great-Gran stood in the middle and Aunt Leslie proudly carried her pregnant belly. We cannot wait to meet Miles' cousin Gavin Alexander Willis when he arrives at the end of June.

When we were not off day tripping, other people came to visit us. Alvaro and Maria Paulina, friends of Jill's cousin Sergio in Colombia, stayed with us for two nights to start their 3-week coast-to-coast tour of Los Estados Unidos.

Here is Alvaro with Miles.

Maria Paulina posed with Jill and an awkwardly comfortable Miles.

In an effort to ease Miles' transition to day care and Jill's return to work on April 2, we have made a few trips to Bright Horizons. Here is Miles with his primary caregiver Rosie. She is from Peru and we all think she is great.

In other lesser news, Miles recently has taken to pushing off Peter's chest to suck on what is apparently a delicious-tasting knee. In this picture, Miles was caught mid-act.

We also continue to make changing time as pleasant as possible. Kisses and bright smiles tend to do the trick.